New Rochelle, N.Y. – The Monroe College Baseball team played a hard-fought five-game series with ASA over the weekend. The Mustangs prevailed in two of the contests, and fell by just one run in two of their three losses. The team is now 11-13 on the year.
The series began with a pair of games on Friday. The opener, a 5-4 loss, saw Monroe come from behind before falling in the end. ASA took a 1-0 lead in the first, and the score stayed there until the Mustangs tied it with a run in the fourth.
Shadrach Meulens blasted a triple off the wall, and
Isaiah Torres drove him in with a ground-rule double.
The Avengers regained the lead with two runs in the sixth, leading 3-1 into the eighth. Monroe rallied with three runs in the eighth. The Mustangs loaded the bases on consecutive base hits from
Christopher Palermo,
Troy Davern, and Meulens.
Isaiah Torres ripped the fourth-straight hit of the inning, a two-RBI single that brought home Palermo and Davern and tied the game. Pinch hitter
Kevin Garcia followed with a double that scored Meulens and put Monroe ahead, 4-3. ASA scored twice in the bottom of the eighth and went on to win, 5-4.
Monroe fell behind in game two right away, as the Avengers scored three times in the first. They added a run in the fourth and took a 4-0 lead into the ninth. Palermo opened the inning with a single.
Michael Crispino followed with a double, and Davern walked to load the bases. Torres got Monroe on the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly. Meulens followed with a two-RBI double down the left field line. The Mustangs got within 4-3, but that was the final score.
Harry Colon pitched seven strong innings of relief.
Saturday saw Monroe rally for a 5-4 win in game one. ASA took a 2-0 lead, but the Mustangs scored five times in the fifth to take the lead for good.
Edward Nunez delivered a line drive to left that scored
Adonis Garcia, who had reached on an error. Palermo brought home Nunez with another hit.
Wayne Roberts scored on a wild pitch, and Davern came in as an unearned run. The Mustangs got a pair of strong pitching performances in the game.
Antonio Frias gave up just two earned runs in seven innings. He struck out eight to earn the win.
Ramon Encarnacion picked up the save.
Game two went to extra innings before ASA prevailed, 20-10. Monroe led 4-1 after an inning, following RBI singles from Crispino, Davern, and Meulens. Davern later scored on a wild pitch. ASA got a run in the second and three more in the fifth to grab a 5-4 lead. The Mustangs came from behind to grab the lead for the third straight game with three runs in the fifth. Crispino ripped another RBI double to tie the game at 5-5. Davern's RBI double put Monroe ahead, and a Meulens hit plated Davern with the seventh run. The Avengers scored five more times to take a 10-7 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
Isaiah Torres singled, and
Edgardo Bernard walked. Later in the frame, Meulens blasted a home run over the wall to tie the game at 10-10, sending the game into extra innings. ASA scored ten times in the tenth to prevail, 20-10.
Monroe brought it back with a win on Sunday. ASA grabbed the lead with a run in the first. The Mustangs came from behind with six runs in the fifth.
Andy Karlan tied the game with an RBI single that scored
Wayne Roberts. Two more runs came in on a bases loaded walk and hit by pitch.
Dawy Lebron brought in the fourth run with an RBI single.
Adonis Garcia scored on a passed ball, and Nunez plated the final run with a ground out.
Monroe got three more runs in the sixth without getting a hit. Five walks and a hit by pitch led to the runs. The game ended via the eight-run rule in the seventh.
Isaiah Torres brought in a run with a bases loaded walk, and
Adonis Garcia drove in the final run with a sacrifice fly. Monroe won, 11-2. On the mound,
Ramon Disla scattered just one run in 4.2 innings.
Jason Alvarez earned the win in relief.
The Monroe College Baseball team will return to action on Tuesday, April 11th, against Raritan Valley Community College in a doubleheader in North Branch, New Jersey. Game one is slated for 4:00 PM.